Month: August 2023

Regardless of what you’re going through, self-care is important.

I once read something that said, “It’s not the hard times that define you, it’s how you respond.” One important tool when it comes to dealing with personal challenges is self-care.

What is self-care? The University of Kentucky’s Student Affairs Center describes self-care as “[A]ny intentional actions you take to care for your physical, mental, and emotional health.”

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In times of stress, trauma, or crisis, practicing self-care can help manage your health.

While self-care isn’t the be-all and end-all to dealing with stress, it can be a valuable recovery tool. Here are a few self-care suggestions from Crisis Clinic.

1. Exercise — even a little bit.

Don’t worry, we’re not talking about running a marathon here. Your form of exercise can be as light or as intense as you want it to be. Don’t have access to a gym? No problem! Take a walk around the block, try a yoga routine on YouTube, climb the bleachers at your local high school track, go window-shopping at the mall, or give your home a speedy power clean. There are tons of ways to get your endorphins pumping, and any number of them can have a positive impact on your mood.

2. Give yourself permission to focus on someone outside yourself.

Making someone else feel good is a great way to lift your own spirits. Try volunteering or call up an old friend or family member you haven’t talked to in a while and brighten their day.

3. Give and get physical touch: A hug can do wonders.

4. Give yourself permission to feel bad: Schedule it in your day. Remind yourself that your reactions are normal.

Sometimes the worst thing you can do when you’re feeling down is to beat yourself up for feeling down. Remember you’re human and everyone has good days and bad days.

5. Give yourself permission to feel good.

Everyone’s feel-good solution is different. Just be careful and make sure not to partake in activities that could cause harm to yourself or anyone else. Get some ice cream, watch your favorite movie, or laugh at a fart joke! Sometimes when we’re going through something difficult, we keep ourselves from experiencing joy because we don’t think it’s appropriate or we think we don’t deserve it. Remember that it’s OK to laugh and feel good during times of sadness, even if it’s only for a moment.

6. Structure your time and develop a routine.

Finding time for friends, family, work, play, and everything in between can be difficult, even on your best days. Too often when we’re extremely busy or stressed, we forget to make time for even simple things like lunch or quiet time. To make things easier on yourself, try setting alarms on your phone or online calendar for everything from meetings and appointments to taking your vitamins. There are also tons of productivity apps you can use to set for daily, weekly, and even hourly goals if needed. Not a fan of digital scheduling? Try a paper planner or giant laminated calendar to help organize and structure your days.

7. Engage in practices that are meaningful to you, such as prayer, walking in the woods, sitting quietly, reading inspirational material, taking a bath, or writing in a journal.

8. Take breaks from periods of isolation.

Everyone needs alone time now and then, but try setting a timer for yourself so you can get some fresh air and connect with others.

9. Talk it out — even with a professional.

Don’t have health insurance or access to a health care professional? There are tons of free resources that can connect you with someone online or by phone. Check out yourlifeyourvoice.org for videos, articles, and local resources for people struggling with depression. Also, the Crisis Clinic (the wonderful organization behind this self-care list) has a 24-hour hotline.

10. Get plenty of rest so that you feel refreshed and relaxed.

Don’t underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep! If you have trouble sleeping at night, try turning off the TV and electronic devices like your cell phone and computer at least one hour before you want to go to bed. A cup of hot (decaf) tea before bed can be helpful. Also, things like regular exercise, stretching, and calming music can help your body successfully power down before bedtime.

Self-care shouldn’t just be for the tough times. Make it a habit worth keeping.

The tricky thing about self-care is that when you’re feeling down, exercising or going to see a doctor is usually the last thing on your mind. That’s why it’s important to make self-care a part of your daily life. Self-care can be an important tool for times of crisis, but it’s much easier to implement if you’re taking care of yourself during the good times, too.

This article originally appeared on 12.22.15

Jackie Robinson was an amazing baseball player with serious conviction.

He had the same level of conviction in his demand for real, substantive legislation about civil rights.

He was the first black player, EVER, in baseball’s major leagues in America — he would know.

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Real change doesn’t happen all at once. But we get there faster when voters speak up and say they expect more from our elected leaders.

Take the slow path of civil rights in America. Voters like Robinson helped push for real equality when he sent this telegram to The White House and President Eisenhower in 1957:

In the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling stating that segregated schools were not cutting it, the 1957 Civil Rights Act began taking shape under Eisenhower.Eisenhower signed the half-loafy 1957 bill, but that was just the beginning of a nation setting itself up to specifically make rights more available to everyone (and to make denying people those rights subject to some real penalties).The 1957 act was the first civil rights legislation passed since the mid-1800s, but it was was mostly lip service; it didn’t do enough to tackle the huge problem of racism and prejudice in America.

There’s no doubt about it, Robinson was hardcore. He did not sleep on the quest for equality.

You gotta admire athletes and people in the public eye who stick their neck out and use their public voice for equality!

And the fact is, they did have to wait a little bit longer. In 1960, another civil rights act passed. Then again in 1964, another civil rights act. We’re talking two separate presidents to get America at least starting to get in front of that whole racism thing. And we’re still working.

Robinson may not have gotten what he wanted right off the bat, but demanding more and not giving up hope was vital to keep the momentum going and build real change.

Bit by bit, we’re building a more equal country.

Think of marriage equality. We weren’t getting all wins in the court system over the years, but each fight helped to change public opinion until polls started showing that the majority of Americans believed in marriage equality. And then, finally, that Supreme Court ruling in June 2015.

Conviction and equality win, and so does love.

This article originally appeared on 09.21.15

The late Robin Williams could make picking out socks funny, so pairing him with the fuzzy red monster Elmo was bound to be pure wholesome gold. Honestly, how the puppeteer, Kevin Clash, didn’t completely break character and bust out laughing is a miracle. In this short outtake clip, you get to see Williams crack a few jokes in his signature style while Elmo tries desperately to keep it together.

Williams has been a household name since what seems like the beginning of time, and before his death in 2014, he would make frequent appearances on “Sesame Street.” The late actor played so many roles that if you were ask 10 different people what their favorite was, you’d likely get 10 different answers. But for the kids who spent their childhoods watching PBS, they got to see him being silly with his favorite monsters and a giant yellow canary. At least I think Big Bird is a canary.

When he stopped by “Sesame Street” for the special “Big Bird’s Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake” in 1991, he was there to show Elmo all of the wonderful things you could do with a stick. Williams turns the stick into a hockey stick and a baton before losing his composure and walking off camera. The entire time, Elmo looks enthralled … if puppets can look enthralled. He’s definitely paying attention before slumping over at the realization that Williams goofed a line. But the actor comes back to continue the scene before Elmo slinks down inside his box after getting Williams’ name wrong, which causes his human co-star to take his stick and leave.

The little blooper reel is so cute and pure that it makes you feel good for a few minutes. For an additional boost of serotonin, check out this other (perfectly executed) clip about conflict that Williams did with the two-headed monster. He certainly had a way of engaging his audience, so it makes sense that even after all of these years, he’s still greatly missed.

This article originally appeared on 06.30.22

For years, we’ve told our kids that they have to be perfect to succeed. Turns out, they might have been listening.

If you feel anxiety about slipping up — like, the tiniest mistake is irrefutable evidence that you’re secretly a failure — you might not be alone.

A study suggests that, compared to young people 30 years ago, more college students are, or feel expected to be, perfectionists — and that might be a problem.

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Two scientists from the United Kingdom analyzed personality tests from over 41,000 American, Canadian, and British college students, dating from 2016 back to the late 1980s, comparing three different kinds of perfectionism and how much they’ve gone up or down over time.Overall, the data showed:

• A 33% increase in young people feeling judged by society for not being perfect (for example, “My parents will be mad if I get less than an A”).
• A 16% increase in young people judging others (“I have no patience for my partner’s mistakes”).
• And a 10% increase in self-judgment (“I am upset that I didn’t get 100% on that test”). Americans seemed especially self-judgey.

This incessant drive to be perfect might be stressing us out to a sickening degree.

Being a perfectionist may seem OK at first. It seems like nearly every single job posting these days specifically asks for someone detail-oriented. (“I’m a perfectionist” is a go-to answer to the classic biggest-weakness interview question for a reason.)

Yet perfectionism has been linked to mental health problems like depression and anxiety, which young people seem to be especially vulnerable to these days.

One problem appears to be how society defines — and demands — success.

The authors weren’t able to test the exact cause for this, but they have some ideas. One contributing factor might be our increasingly success-obsessed society. Since the ’80s, we’ve taken the idea of meritocracy and mythologized it.

“Meritocracy places a strong need for young people to strive, perform and achieve in modern life,” said author Dr. Thomas Curran in a press release. “Young people are responding by reporting increasingly unrealistic educational and professional expectations for themselves.”

Other possible causes might be parents demanding more out of their children than they did in the 1980s and/or the panopticon of social media.

If perfectionism really is both problematic and on the rise, it’s not going to be an easy problem to solve. But there are potential solutions.

Curran and his co-author, Dr. Andrew Hill, did not address specific solutions in the current paper, but, when asked, Curran said:

“We (my group) typically advocate balanced working lives, regular breaks from the social evaluation of social media, a focus [on] one’s own accomplishments (not others’), and depressurized environments that do not hold excessive expectations or perfection as criteria for success.”

(By the way, if you need help with this, psychologist Tamar Chansky wrote a list eight personal strategies over at HuffPost. Alternatively, this might be something to unpack with a therapist.)

In addition, Curran suggested that it might be time for schools, universities, and other organizations to teach the importance of compassion over competition. He and his co-author have previously praised Google’s program of rewarding both successes and failures.

So while it might be admirable to aim for that gold star, it’s important to remember that mistakes happen. It’s OK not to be perfect.

Last night (August 29), Travis Scott joined Drake to perform together at his It’s All A Blur Tour stop in Vancouver. The two rappers also treated the crowd to some very special performances.

Scott first walked out on the stage to “Hyaena,” the opening track of his new album, Utopia.

Drake and Scott then held the live debut performance of “Meltdown,” their collaboration from the same record.

Throughout Scott’s appearance, they also did one of his biggest hits with “Sicko Mode.” Drake did “P*ssy & Millions” from his joint album, Her Loss, with 21 Savage.

Finally, Scott performed other Utopia tracks like “I Know,” “Fe!n,” and an older 2016 track “Goosebumps” that originally featured Kendrick Lamar.

It has been rumored that Scott will continue to replace 21 Savage during the Canadian leg of the It’s All A Blur Tour, after one of the shows was pushed back until tonight. And his appearance last night seemed to confirm it, but only tonight’s show will tell. Either way, fans will get to see Scott perform on his own soon, as the rapper recently announced Utopia — The Circus Maximus Tour. A complete list of dates can be found here.

Check out some clips of Drake and Scott performing the songs together above.

In Coi Leray’s high-concept video for “Isabel Marant,” the unapologetic rapper is stripped down and dipped in glitter as she performs her new single. Name-checking a plethora of designer brands, Coi debuts an eye-popping new hairstyle and twerks atop a platform held aloft by a thrashing mosh pit. As Coi flexes her drip both in the lyrics and in her video looks, it’s pretty clear she remains unbothered by critics of her first-week sales and her musical stylings.

That Coi is just under three months removed from the release of her self-titled second studio album and is already pushing forward with new music is a testament to her work ethic — the very thing that got her to this place in her career so far. While she hasn’t impressed many critics, her music certainly resonates with fans, since her streaming numbers keep going up and her list of hits, which now includes Coi standouts like “Players,” “Bops,” “My Body,” and “Get Loud.”

While there’s no word as yet where “Isabel Marant” will ultimately end up, it doesn’t look like Coi is showing any signs of slowing down, let alone stopping. Terrible news for her haters.

Watch Coi Leray’s “Isabel Marant” video above.

Across eight Harry Potter movies, Bonnie Wright, who played Ron’s sister and Harry’s epilogue wife Ginny Weasley, has approximately 30 minutes of screen time. Ginny is a more promiment character in the books, and the actress can’t help but feel disappointed about her limited amount of time in the films.

“I definitely feel there was anxiety towards performing and doing the best thing as my character built, for instance,” Wright said on the Inside of You podcast, according to Variety. “Like, ‘Oh gosh, will I do justice to this character that people love?’ So that was always hard to do, especially when, inevitably, a lot of the scenes of every character were chopped down from the book to the film. So you didn’t really have as much to show in the film.”

Wright called it “a little disappointing because there were parts of the character that just didn’t get to come through because there weren’t the scenes to do that. That made me feel a bit anxious or just frustrated, I guess.” She never approached the writers or producers about Ginny’s relative lack of presence because “there were a million executives going through them all. I think what I maybe took, which I don’t take so much to heart now, is I kind of felt that maybe my anxiety was about, ‘Oh, I’m going to be seen as badly portraying this character,’ rather than later realizing that I wasn’t really given the opportunity to do that. So it wasn’t really my fault, exactly.”

If it’s any consolation, Ginny had three times as much screen time as Dobby. This is probably not helpful.

(Via Variety)

Jack Harlow‘s rise to fame may have seemed quick, but he had been putting in the work independently for years. Before putting out his albums That’s What They All Say and Come Home, The Kids Miss You, Harlow had put out several mixtapes and EPs years before. But the past two years have seen Harlow become a bona fide superstar with crossover hits like Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby,” on which he delivers a guest verse, as well as hits of his own, like “First Class.” On his third album, Jackman, Harlow makes a return to his minimalistic rap roots, notably on a standout track, “Denver.”

Today (August 30), Harlow has shared the video for “Denver,” which, as its title suggests, sees him at various spots throughout Denver.

We catch Harlow alone in a hotel room, as he ponders his life and newfound pop star status. Harlow also visits a strip club, where he looks gloomy as the only person in the audience. He later drives through the mountain ranges, stops at a Good Times Burger for some iconic sliders, and hikes to the top of the mountain, in the midst of a Colorado sunrise.

You can see the video for “Denver” above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Would the Fast and Furious franchise even exist if Dominic Toretto had a widow’s peak? That’s the existential dilemma Vin Diesel fans are currently facing after old pictures surfaced showing the action hero sans his signature bald head.

Diesel’s name is now synonymous with the high-octane blockbuster series that’s earned billions and spawned entire universes on-screen, but before he was boosting cars and slathering his naked noggin in baby oil, he dipped his toe in more dramatic fare. One such film, the crime biopic Find Me Guilty, shows such a different side to the macho Mr. Clean that it’s stopped the internet in its tracks. Stills from the movie — which sees Diesel playing a low-level gangster defending himself in court — have gone viral thanks to the actor’s noticeable makeover, i.e. the miraculous appearance of the actor’s hairline.

This isn’t the first time Diesel’s sported a bit of fuzz on top. He donned a beard and some lusciously long locks in 2015’s The Last Witch Hunter but somehow, this more realistic imagining of what the actor might look like with some spiked tips has thrown the Fast and Furious fandom into complete chaos.

And sure, the hair is off-putting, but let’s not forget the most shocking developments in this case:

(Via NME)

Florence Pugh was wearing pink before it was cool. But all anyone can remember about the gown the Midsommar star wore to the Valentino couture show in Rome last summer is that you could see her breasts through it. In response to the criticism she faced from “vulgar” trolls, she wrote on Instagram, “What’s been interesting to watch and witness is just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see. You even do it with your job titles and work emails in your bio…?”

Pugh further discussed the nipple fiasco in a recent interview for Elle with actress Jodie Turner-Smith.

“I speak the way I do about my body because I’m not trying to hide the cellulite on my thigh or the squidge in between my arm and my boob: I would much rather lay it all out,” she said. “I think the scariest thing for me are the instances where people have been upset that I’ve shown ‘too much’ of myself. When everything went down with the Valentino pink dress a year ago, my nipples were on display through a piece of fabric, and it wound people up.”

Pugh believes it’s “the freedom that people are scared of; the fact I’m comfortable and happy. Keeping women down by commenting on their bodies has worked for a very long time. I think we’re in this swing now where lots of people are saying, ‘I don’t give a shit.’ Unfortunately, we’ve become so terrified of the human body that we can’t even look at my two little cute nipples behind fabric in a way that isn’t sexual. We need to keep reminding everybody that there is more than one reason for women’s bodies [to exist].”

(Via Elle)